


When The Raindrops Come Tumbling

by antivanelf (macabreromansu)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Snow White Fusion, Angst, Gen, Happily Ever After, Hunstman!Hawke, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Meredith just being vile, Multi, Romance, Shapeshifting, relationship tags to be updated eventually, this is a Cullen-positive eventually, wolf!Fenris
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 02:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10548828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macabreromansu/pseuds/antivanelf
Summary: aka Dragon Age II - Snow White mixJust a pair of mages who think they've already found their happily ever after and a Knight-Commander in possession of some dark magic





	

There is a tale that has been handed down from generation to generation in the small, poorest villages of Thedas anywhere you go, of beauty, power and envy, and the consequences of greed.

 

The tale begins in a land unknown, far away or maybe even closer than you think, where lived two free men in a cottage close to the road to a great city. Their names were Karl and Anders and they lived in their little home with their cat, Ser Pounce-a-lot. They were all as happy as can be together, Karl and Anders devoted to each other and Ser Pounce loved his kind, gentle owners, curling up on their laps, purring deeply, whenever he got the chance.

 

Unfortunately, their good fortune in their peaceful life was soon about to change.

 

The road they lived near to led to the city of Kirkwall and there lived a powerful woman by the name of Meredith, whom most either feared or admired, depending on who you talked to. She was the ruler of the city and wielded her authority with the brutality and subtlety of a steel-plated fist. Meredith took pride that all in her city were living ordered lives, regardless of their happiness, and it gave her great pleasure to look out over the city and see that not even a hint of anything that would lead to chaos was in sight or sound.

 

On the particular day this story begins, Meredith was feeling especially good about life. Only a few days ago, she had received word that a merchant was selling a very rare item, a statue of pure lyrium, from lands that had fallen to darkness and were being reclaimed bit-by-bit. Intrigued in spite of her wariness towards anything that had come from a tainted place, Meredith had summoned the dwarf before her to present the artefact.

 

Puffed-up and sure of himself, the merchant had also seemed oddly twitchy, looking over his shoulder at times when he thought she wouldn't notice. Shrugging it off as the paranoid nature of someone who had recently returned from such shadowed places, Meredith inspected the statue, the 'idol' as Bartrand the Merchant had described it. Holding up to the light, so that the sun streaming in through the tall windows in her office caught it and made it glow like rubies, she felt an instant connection with the piece, as if a piece of her was now caught within the facets. A tiny part of her, so small that she disregarded it after about half a second of doubt, warned her of the dangers of lyrium in so pure a form.

 

Ridiculous. Whoever had heard of a statue possessing someone?

 

She had told him to name his price, which had been extortionate of course, but looking at the idol sitting so finely upon a pedestal she had moved into her rooms, Meredith couldn't bring herself to care about anything much at all, besides how neat and clean-cut the lines were. She had always liked order.

 

She had, of course, forgotten about where the idol had come from. The taint of the corrupted lands below the earth had made its way above ground in its purest form. Red lyrium was already just starting to make itself a problem elsewhere, but that, again, is a story for another time, one we are all well-acquainted with.

 

With every passing moment that Meredith spent in the idol's presence, her paranoia about the state of her rule, already greater than average, grew. She increased the patrols of her men throughout the city, gave them more power to do what they thought necessary to stamp out unrest, quash anything that they deemed 'rebellion'. Eventually, it was even quieter in the streets of Kirkwall, where everyone feared to go walk lest they put a foot wrong, even a millimetre out of place, and summon her wrath.

 

It happened then, that after some weeks of this manufactured 'peace' that Meredith was to receive a report of a couple living outside of the city, well without the city limits, really, and yet free of anyone's jurisdiction. The lieutenant who had told her had been told in turn by a merchant who had come in early one morning with tales of a healer and his partner who had almost miraculous cures for almost anything. They had treated the merchant for a condition that had plagued him since boyhood and had refused to take more than what few things they needed to live, though the merchant bragged that he had offered them some of his more luxurious goods.

 

Though this had been initially dismissed as a rumour, the lieutenant had had someone ride out to the cottage to confirm the location of the cottage where this couple lived and that they did indeed have great knowledge of healing. Knowing this information might be useful to Meredith, who watch anyone with power that might rival hers in anyway, (the unfortunate case of the wizard, Orsino, was still fresh in people's minds), the lieutenant had brought this to her, hopeful for a promotion.

 

He was satisfied when Meredith had given a smooth, cold smile and dismissed him with a promise to talk to his commanding officer, but she had already forgotten his face by the time the office door had shut behind him. She kept the predatory smile on her face as she left the room via the door that lead to her quarters and made her way to the small room where she kept the idol.

 

Removing the velvet cloth that kept it free from dust during the day, she gazed at the way the light sparkled on its surface before she spoke softly, as if to herself.

 

'Soon, all will be under my control,' she said, the light of madness clear in her eyes. 'It's all thanks to you,' she addressed the idol, daring to touch the gleaming surface. The power of it tingled in her fingertips. 'Since that fool dwarf allowed you to come into my possession, your power has helped everything to go smoothly and now, I'll be adding to my 'collection' to make this city the greatest in the Free Marches. Nay, even all of Thedas! They shall hear my name as far as Orlais and shudder in awe.'

 

She subsided as she realise she had been shouting, only just noticing the echoes fading from the force of her declaration. She smiled, unselfconsciously. Let them hear her conviction! She moved to cover up the idol again but suddenly paused, sudden doubt assuaging her as she remembered the slimy officiousness of the lieutenant who had just reported to her. If there was one, how many more of her men were also trying to climb the ranks. Usually, she would reward cunning and guile in her service, but lately, she had grown even more suspicious of the motives in men's hearts. How many were even now plotting to usurp her own position? How long would it be before there was no one she could trust besides herself?

 

She replaced the cloth over the idol, carefully tweaking the folds of the material so there was no glimpse of the precious treasure underneath. A thoughtful expression on her face, she made her way back down to her office and opened the door leading into the main corridor, walking over to the much smaller office next door and pushing the door open.

 

'Cullen,' she said shortly and the Knight-Captain looked up in surprise from where he had been studying a considerable stack of paperwork. 'Bring in Hawke.'

 

 

 


End file.
